# Express checkout vs payment icons on PDP: -14% mobile conversion

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Product page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Payment icons, express checkout & BNPL, Checkout steps, fields & flow
- Test run by: [Blend Commerce](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/blend-commerce/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://blendcommerce.com/blogs/ab-tests-shopify/mobile-pdp-payment-icons-device-specific-checkout-test
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/travel-brand-pdp-express-checkout-vs-payment-icons/

Adding Shopify's dynamic Express Checkout button under the Add to Cart button cut mobile conversion by 14% and mobile revenue per visitor by 21%. A second variant showing payment icons instead lost on desktop and gained only 1% conversion on mobile. Blend Commerce ran this A/B/C test for a premium travel equipment brand.

## Result

**-14% mobile conversion**

- Express Checkout, mobile: conversion rate -14% and revenue per visitor -21%. It also lost on desktop. This is a clear negative result.
- Payment icons, desktop: every major metric fell, so the icons hurt on larger screens.
- Payment icons, mobile: conversion rate +1%, revenue per visitor +2%, average order value +1%. These are small gains with no significance reported.
- Payment icons, mobile funnel: add-to-cart rate -1% and checkout-begin rate -4%, so the icons did not help every step.
- Across all devices the combined result was negative. The agency kept the control on desktop and rolled out icons on mobile only.

## Control

The product page showed the standard Add to Cart area. No payment methods were shown near the button.

## Variant

Variant A added Shopify's dynamic Express Checkout button under the main button. Variant B kept the normal cart flow and added icons for Shop Pay, Amazon Pay, Klarna, PayPal and credit cards under the button.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- An express button asks shoppers to commit before they have built a cart. On a high-consideration product, that may feel too early.
- A second strong button next to Add to Cart can split attention and make the main action less clear.
- Payment icons reassure without changing the flow, which may explain why they did less harm than express checkout.
- On desktop the icons may have added clutter near the button without adding much reassurance.

## Caveats

Significance was not reported, so the small mobile gain for payment icons is directional only. Sample size and test length were not shared.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we show accepted payment methods under Add to Cart on mobile, then more visitors will buy because they know early that familiar payment options are available.
- Primary metric: Conversion rate, split by device
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: Add-to-cart rate
- Guardrail: Checkout-begin rate
- Who should test it: Stores selling higher-priced, considered products where payment options like buy-now-pay-later matter. Test by device, and be wary of express buttons on product pages if your shoppers usually buy more than one item.

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Credit: Blend Commerce ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/travel-brand-pdp-express-checkout-vs-payment-icons/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.